Bishara Salsa is in town to sell olive wood carvings made by him and other artisans from the Middle East town where Jesus was born.

Scenes of the Nativity are etched into Bishara Salsa’s mind.

Billowing robes of the three kings.

Bishara Salsa talks about the woodcarvings he brought from Bethlehem to the Empire Mall for the Christmas season Tuesday, Nov. 21, at his kiosk in the mall.

Briana Sanchez / Argus Leader

The Star of Bethlehem.

Facial features of the Virgin Mary, her husband Joseph and the infant Jesus.

Each detail of the milieu comes to him as if second nature from years of creating them again and again out of olive branches. Now, his hand-carved Nativity scenes, crosses, jewelry and other decorations rested on his kiosk at the Empire Mall.

Salsa wanted to come to South Dakota this year to see friends. He hosted a group of tourists at his home in Bethlehem earlier this year and among the group were Bill and Darlene Keizer.

Salsa and the Keizers share a mutual love for Christmas that extends beyond the seasonal celebration. This time of year is tied to Salsa’s livelihood, his family and his home—located three minutes from the site of Jesus’ birth.

The Keizers also depended on the season for supporting their family.

They owned a 20-acre Christmas tree farm near Canton for 27 years, planting trees and inviting families onto their land during the snowy months to pick and cut a holiday centerpiece for the living room.

November and December were always a busy but fun time for Riverview Christmas Tree Farm.

“It’s a beautiful time,” said Bill Keizer, 83. “We had Santa Claus and stables and the whole works.”

Bishara Salsa talks about the woodcarvings he brought from Bethlehem to the Empire Mall for the Christmas season Tuesday, Nov. 21, at his kiosk in the mall.

Briana Sanchez / Argus Leader

Both families share a mutual passion for their Christian faith. The Keizers visited the holy land in June, staying near the Sea of Galilee before meeting with Salsa’s family in Bethlehem.

“I just wanted to see where Jesus lived,” Keizer said.

Salsa’s family is one of more than 200 Christian families in Bethlehem. He spends most of the Christmas season in the U.S., but his hometown is still celebrating the holiday when he returns. The excitement is palpable, Salsa said, taking out his phone to show videos of the parades and crowds that fill the streets every night for weeks.

It’s almost like you can feel the excitement of Christ’s birth, Salsa said. The carvings reflect the religious origin of the holiday and that same celebration of Jesus.

“This is not just wood, this is like a message we send to all people in this world,” Salsa said. “He is with us. He’s staying with us in our life. Every minute he is with us.”

Leaving Bethlehem for three months each year means being apart from his wife and three children, but the carvings he sells don’t just support his family, Salsa said.

Many of the pieces are made by other carvers. He estimates his kiosk will support nearly half of Bethlehem’s remaining Christian community, putting food on the table and paying bills. The money he earns for his family and others will typically last about five or six months, he said.

“The Christian people carve this wood and live from this job,” Salsa said. “We bring it here to sell it here because of the situation in the Middle East.”

Each piece—each cross, Nativity scene, bracelet—is the result of more than a year of preparation and work. Olives are picked every two years in October and, after the harvest, farmers sell the branches to wood carvers.

Olive branches must dry for a year, in a dark storage room to avoid damage from the sun. Then, Salsa can make his initial cuts, carving out blocks and basic shapes before putting the pieces back in storage for another two or three months.

He uses a dental toolkit to painstakingly chip and pick away at the wood, slowly crafting the details of each figurine. He waits until he’s well rested and in a good enough mood to do the piece justice, Salsa said.

Bishara Salsa talks about the woodcarvings he brought from Bethlehem to the Empire Mall for the Christmas season Tuesday, Nov. 21, at his kiosk in the mall.

Briana Sanchez / Argus Leader

“It’s tough to carve this wood,” Salsa said. “You have to be an artist to do these details.”

After meeting the Keizers, Salsa decided he would come to Sioux Falls for the upcoming season instead of returning to Texas.

It was also a chance to enter a new market.

“I feel that they don’t see my product here,” Salsa said.

Wood carving is a family tradition. His father and grandfather worked with the same wood and sold their designs in stands in Bethlehem.

But tourism to the area slowed. The community needed to find a new way to sell their wares.

Salsa first came to the U.S. in 2006, putting up his first stand in Boston. Because he is selling the handiwork of other artists, he feels a strong sense of responsibility to others in his community who depend on his sales to make a living.

He mans the kiosk seven days a week, working 11-hour days in November and then increasing his hours by two or three hours closers to Christmas.

“It’s hard work, but I need to do it,” Salsa said.

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